Dealing With Work-Related Stress

We’re all familiar with the stress that working up to (or more than) 4o hours per week can cause. The symptoms, while slightly different from one person to the next, usually include tense muscles, short breath, and an unrelenting desire to leave the office. Headaches and fatique are also common strain-related complaints.

Work-related strain can be caused by any number of things: conflict, changes to management, the threat of redundancy, being over-worked, and the pressure to meet unrealistic goals and KPIs to name just a few. Whatever the cause, it’s sure to be emotionally and physically taxing.

Work-related ennui can impact upon the efficiency of an entire organisation. Stress in one employee begets stress in another, and seeking time off can often be the result. So it’s in everyone’s best interests to address tension when it does arise, and attempt to remedy it.

Communicate

As soon as stress rears its ugly head, it should be recognised. If the staff culture is hospitable, then employees should feel comfortable in reaching out to their own manager, or someone from Human Relations. Depending on the source and severity of the anxiety, they may recommend a number of different remedies: time off, re-evaluating job expectations, or counseling, for example.

Communication should also extend to friends and family. Internalising negative emotions is never the solution.

Diet and exercise

Making relatively small and easy tweaks to one’s food consumption can enact a surprisingly big change in mood. Eating a variety of healthy foods can alleviate the lethargy than many associate with work-related pressure. Those hoping to turn a corner in regards to their diet should consider beginning with a clean slate. Remedies like those offered by Melbourne colonic irrigation, for example, flush out toxins and other unhealthy types of build-up in the body.

Dietary changes, of course, extend to avoiding the bad stuff – alcohol, nicotine and drugs may alleviate strain in the short-term, but they’ll only end up making things worse in the morning.

When it comes to making positive bodily changes, exercise should also factor in. That said, making time for an hour-long run each and every day is easier said than done…

Alter your routine

It’s for your own benefit to compartmentalise your day – focusing on what’s still to come will make present tasks seem less permanent and daunting.

However, crafting a timetable that has a slot for everything, everyday – exercise, socialising, work, relaxation, quiet time, sleep, and whatever else – is difficult to pull off. Sleep should always be prioritised. Apart from that one vital task, think about fitting in one other quality activity per day outside of work.

It might be an hour’s lap swimming, a good film, or a quality catch-up with a friend. Don’t try and do it all, though. That would only make things worse!

Alternative remedies

Stress is, in essence, a health problem. It makes sense, then, that many people who experience it seek treatments to rectify the problem.

Services such as Melbourne colonic hydrotherapy are helpful in alleviating anxiety, and restoring general wellbeing. This is because they help to eliminate the toxins and mucus that tend to build up around the digestive tract, and can, if untreated, cause and exacerbate feelings of lethargy and irritability. Facilities like coloncareclinic.com.au help people to increase their energy and vitality, countering the negative physical and emotional side-effects of workplace difficulties.

Take a break

This instruction can be interpreted in a number of ways. If you’re in the midst of a personal crisis, try to schedule at least a week off in the near future. Consulting someone from HR could work wonders in this regard.

In other cases, a small-scale ‘break’ might be all that’s required. A lunch-time stroll in the fresh air is, as your mother would say, a great remedy to get your mind off difficulties in the office.